After Kim Jong-il's confession in 2002 that North Korean agents had abducted thirteen Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, North Korea has become the most detested country in Japan, and the normalisation of bilateral relations has been put on the back burner. The abduction issue has taken precedence in Japan even over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. It has also grossly overshadowed the atrocities for which Imperial Japan was responsible in the 20th century. Why has there been such strong emphasis on an issue that could be disregarded as comparatively ‘less important’? This article understands the ascendency of the abduction issue as the epitome of an identity shift under way in Japan – from the identity of a curiously ‘peaceful’ and inherently ‘abnormal’ state, to that of a more ‘normal’ one. The differentiation of North Korea as ‘abnormal’ emphasises Japan's own (claim to) ‘normality’. Indeed, by incarnating the perils of Japan's own ‘pacifist’ ‘abnormality’, which has been so central to the collective sense of Japanese ‘Self’ in the post-war period, the abduction issue has become a very emotional argument for Japan's ‘normalisation’ in security and defence terms. The transformation from ‘abnormal’ to ‘normal’ is further enabled by Japan trading places with North Korea in the discourse, so that Japan is defined as ‘victim’ (rather than former aggressor) and North Korea as ‘aggressor’ (rather than former victim). What is at stake here is the question whether Japan is ‘normalising’ or ‘remilitarising’, and the role of the abduction issue discourse in enabling such foreign and security policy change.

This article demonstrates that a national identity defined by a normative commitment to peace is not necessarily an antidote to remilitarisation and war. More specifically, the article takes issue with the debate about the trajectory of Japan’s security and defence policy. One strand of the debate holds that Japan is normatively committed to peace while the other claims that Japan is in the process of remilitarising. This article argues that the two positions are not mutually exclusive – a point that has been overlooked in the literature. The article uses discourse analysis to trace how ‘peace’ was discussed in debates about China in the Japanese Diet in 1972 and 2009–12. It demonstrates how rearticulations by right wing discourses in the latter period have depicted peace as something that must be defended actively, and thus as compatible with remilitarisation or military normalisation. Japan’s changing peace identity could undermine rather than stabilise peaceful relations with its East Asian neighbours.

Anti-money laundering in the United States2012In: Securitization, Accountability and Risk Management: Tranforming the Public Security Domain / [ed] Karin Svedberg Helgesson and Ulrika Mörth, London and New York: Routledge, 2012, p. 56-69Chapter in book (Refereed)

The report assesses the presidency of Barack Obama, with a focus on transatlantic security relations. Other foreign and security policy issues are also examined. In addition, four crucial domestic policy that helped define the administration are reviewed in depth, in order to arrive at an overall assessment of Barack Obama as president. The second part of the report examines what we may expect from Donald Trump as president, again with a focus on transatlantic security relations and again with an analysis of fundamental domestic issues.

The aim of this article is to explore the extent to which the self-image of France expressed in relation to the United States has changed with changes in US foreign policy and paradigmatic changes in the international system. The article explores how the French political and intellectual elites related to the USA in the discourse of Le Monde and Le Figaro in 1984, 1994, 2004 and 2009. The analysis indicates that France's self-image is connected to multilateralism, liberalism and cultural protectionism. The stabilizing effect of political culture is suggested as an explanation for the fact that the press represented France's self-image in a more or less similar manner while different roles were ascribed to the USA over time.

The advent of social media can be seen both as a risk and an opportunity by armed forces. Previous research has primarily examined whether or not the use of social media endangers or strengthens armed forces’ strategic narrative. We examine armed forces’ perceptions of risks and opportunities on a broad basis, with a particular focus on areas of deployment. The article is based on a survey of perceptions of social media amongst the armed forces of EU member states, thus adding to previous research through its comparative perspective. Whereas previous research has mainly focused on larger powers, such as the US and the UK, this article includes the views of the armed forces of 26 EU states, including several smaller nations. In analyzing the results we asked whether or not risk and opportunity perceptions were related to national ICT maturity and the existence of a social media strategy. The analysis shows that perceptions of opportunities outweigh perceptions of risks, with marketing and two-way communication as the two most prominent opportunities offered by the use of social media. Also, armed forces in countries with a moderate to high ICT maturity emphasize social media as a good way for marketing purposes.

How can European democratic states respond to Russian information warfare? This article aims to enable and spur systematic research of how democracies can respond to the spread of distorted information as part of information warfare. The article proposes four ideal-type models representing different strategies that democratic governments can employ; blocking, confronting, naturalising and ignoring. Each strategy is illustrated by ways of empirical examples of strategies applied by European states in view of what is regarded as an unwelcome Russian strategic narrative that is spread as part of information warfare. We problematise each strategy and explore reasons for why states choose one strategy over another. We then explore how different strategies might contribute to destabilise or stabilise the security environment and how they resonate with democratic values. Finally, we contribute to theorising on strategic narratives by highlighting that the choice of strategy will influence states in their formation of strategic narratives. We thus further theorising on strategic narratives by highlighting the link between strategies and narratives, thus identifying one central dynamic in how narratives are formed.

The new media situation gives fuel to increased competition between narratives. In the sphere of security this poses challenges to government strategic narratives. Scholars, drawing on findings from the Anglo-Saxon sphere, suggest that the new media activism gives rise to counter-hegemonic narratives that thrive on and through social media sites. We argue that the emergence of counter-narratives in the sphere of security depends upon a few key dynamics that might vary with political context such as political culture, the size of the blogosphere, the debate in mainstream media and socialization processes within the military organization. Our case study of Swedish blogging about Sweden’s military contribution to the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan suggests that blogs are mainly used to sustain – and not to challenge – the governmental narrative. This invites us to question the significance of new media platforms as counter-hegemonic forces in communities beyond the Anglo-Saxon sphere.

The WHO regional office in Africa reported the first outbreak of ebola in 2014 March 23rd. Since then 25 178 cases has been reported from five countries in Western Africa as well as from US and Spain which has led to 10 445 casualties (WHO, 2015b). In Sweden, the Swedish Contingencies Agency was assigned SEK100 million from the government to contribute to the international response to stop the outbreak.

The aim of this master thesis is to clarify the relation between the Swedish government, Swedish contingencies agencies, and WHO (World Food Programme) in relation to the ebola outbreak in Weston Africa 2014based on a thematic approach and a modified theory from May et al. (2008) about centralized authority.

The main theory in this essay is May et al (2008) theory regarding delegated to centralized authority, which is supplemented by an explaining process-tracing. The theory is developed to contain four different themes; centralized authority, leadership & strategy, operative organization, and other organization.

The conclusion from the study is three; (1) an agency can receive signals from different directions that could effect the experience of centralized authority, (2) the concepts of the theory has a more dynamic than linear connection and (3), the only direct consequence of an organization that has been exposed to a potential centralized authority is agenda instability.

The author re-examines the concept of equality in international society, past and present. The conventional view that equality of states necessarily flows from sovereignty, that it is a corollary to sovereignty or simply a synonym, is considered a contingent rather than a necessary contention. The main argument is that equality in global international society should be theorised anew, restoring the normative strength of the principle. It is shown how concepts of equality make intelligible different normative and ethical conceptions of the modern political space in the past. Drawing on the works of such diverse theorists as Hans Kelsen, Peter Singer, John Rawls and Michael Oakeshott, the author suggests how a renewed interest in equality contributes to making international society a more inclusive, egalitarian, and credible moral and political association.

This essay investigates the moral aspects of humanitarian intervention. Humanitarian intervention involves the balancing of at least three sometimes contradictory principles - the autnonomy of states, the prohibition of war and the reduction of harm and human suffering - and hence requires not merely a legal and political approach to the matter but renders a moral viewpoint necessary. It is argued that P.F. Strawson's concept Moral Reactive Attitudes (MRA) contributes to analysing the moral dilemmas and priorities involved. First, MRA underlines the moral aspects of international society that are essential for dealing with the moral conflict inherent in international society. Secondly, MRA helps to balance between competing claims of justification and legitimacy in cases of humanitarian intervention.

The starting point for this analysis is that there is no ’business as usual’ when considering the consequences of the Brexit referendum: there is either the question ’if Brexit?’ or the question ’if-not Brexit?’ because there is no turning around or comfortable retreat to established positions. Starting with an analysis of the British debate this ‘policy-brief paper’ looks at the consequences of the Brexit referendum for transatlantic security relations and in particular the consequences for Sweden. The most important arguments are, in brief: (1) That the value conflict inherent in the British debate, essentially between Eurosceptic nationalism and pro-EU integrationism, is mirrored in several European nations and remains a challenge to the EU; (2) that while Britain remains a European power regardless of the outcome of the referendum, the British geo-political outlook is differs from that of other European nations and will have to be taken into account when considering transatlantic security relations; (3) that NATO is likely to be even more important if Britain leaves the EU but that a strengthening of NATO’s European pillar is likely regardless of the outcome of the referendum, among other things because of US demands on European nations to improve their military capacity; (4) that Sweden in the case of Brexit is likely to lose influence over the development of European security cooperation in general but might nevertheless be able to gain in influence mainly as a result of Sweden’s geo-strategic position.

This article examines the concept of State Civil Disobedience (SCD) in the context of international society. It is argued that SCD is problematic for several reasons. First, that SCD is extremely difficult to practice in an association such as international society, relying, as it does, a great deal on the policies and powers of a few dominating actors; second, that the unequal status of states makes SCD mainly an instrument of the strong, hence undermining not only the idea of civil disobedience as the strategy of the weak but also questioning the role of SCD within an international society based on the formal equality of states. It is concluded that the practice of SCD in international society requires an invigoration of international society as a moral association. A more practical alternative, it is argued, is to conceive of a limited concept of SCD confined largely to non-violent means and preferably practiced in order to resist legal anomalies.

This article is about the politics of ‘the exception’ and the role of ‘exceptionalism’ in contemporary international theory. The concept of ‘the exception’ was coined by Carl Schmitt and has in recent years become an inspiration for international relations theorists and foreign policy analysts, especially when engaging with issues such as great power politics, humanitarian intervention and the war against terrorism. It is concluded that attempts to apply Schmitt’s concept of ‘the exception’ seldom are persuasive and sometimes even contradictory to Schmitt’s theory. When dealt with out of context, ‘the exception’ becomes just an expression about something else. It is shown that there are other ways of handling the kind of political problem observed by Schmitt than what he and his followers are offering.

Global framework agreements on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) aim to reduce the vulnerability of states from the effects of natural hazards and guide international development strategies. The effects of these agreements have surely saved lives and buffered shocks to economic systems. Yet, there remains a gap between global aims and envisioned outcomes in local communities. This paper argues that cultural determinants of risk, which shape the reception and translation of ideas on DRR, must be taken seriously if international organizations wish to enhance their efficacy and reduce vulnerability. Elucidating the importance indigenous practices of resilience, time and governance have for the global diffusion of DRR can help to reduce this gap and encourage more effective development policy in the future.

The devastating impact and trauma that cataclysmic events cause in an interdependent and globalized society set the backdrop of increasing civil protection cooperation in the European Union. In order to prevent and respond to future natural and manmade crises a number of initiatives have emerged such as sophisticated early-warning response systems to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, and a Monitoring and Information Centre to warn and facilitate national responses on major crises. These mechanisms have been used in several crises ranging from the Prestige tanker oil spill in 2002 to the Haiti earthquake in 2010. Key to a successful EU performance has been an active and efficient participation of EU member states.So far research has mainly paid attention to the functioning of the Brussels based organs. This fifth report from the European Societal Security Research Group (ESSRG) complements this focus with an in-depth study on the participation of member states in the EU Community Mechanism for Civil Protection. It gives an overview of variations in national engagement and investigates the ways the Union is strengthening participation through programmes for training, exercises and exchanges of experts. This report will be highly useful for practitioners who wish to obtain an overall vision of the current status of civil protection cooperation and encourages further and much needed research for scholars on European security, integration and crisis management.

Natural disasters have become a heightened security issue in the last decade. Mitigating and responding to disasters, such as the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and the 2011 earthquake in Japan, reflect a new security agenda that has spread across the globe and infiltrated most regional organizations. At first glance, the creation of regional programmes on disaster risk management (DRM) appears to be driven by the functional preferences of states. However, a comparison of ten regional organizations reveals some curious ambiguities. Despite different threat perceptions, financial budgets and geographical environments of regional organizations, a majority of states have formed DRM programmes that exhibit highly standardized features in terms of language, the referent points of protection and the apparent motivations for cooperation. World society theory is used to explain these striking similarities with reference to the global cultural system. This article also illustrates the analytical purchase of world society theory in understanding cooperation through regional organizations.

The Norwegian state has a long-standing tradition of protecting its citizens from a range of threats from natural disasters, infectious diseases, industrial accidents, critical infrastructure failure, to terrorist attacks. This case study provides a broad and detailed description on the main features of the modern Norwegian civil security system. It explains how it functions, it describes the system’s political and cultural context, and it addresses the changes that have occurred since the Oslo bombing and the Utøya shootings in 2011 July 22. The coordination of human and material resources to prevent, prepare, respond to, and recover from, various crises is constructed along three guiding principles of responsibility, decentralization, and conformity. This not only means that responsibility for crisis management should be at the lowest possible level, but that the state and its society must also operate under normal standards, regardless of the type or extent of a particular crisis. As this study shows, most areas of the civil security system are infused with these defining principles. This can be seen, for example, in the discussion on the cultural elements that inform Norwegian society, the production of legislation, or in operational procedures used in responding to crises. In addition to these areas, this study also provides detailed descriptions on Norway’s administrative and legal traditions, its external cooperative endeavours, as well as the way in which the private sector and citizens interact with civil security system. In order to further understand the system, this study investigates three quality measures based on the extent to which the system is effective, efficient, and legitimate. An annex is also included that depicts the principal descriptive features of the study, as well as a case study on the H1N1 virus. Set within the dark shadows of the events that took place on July 22 – that could have been avoided through existing security measures according to Norwegian state authorities – this study concludes by highlighting the need for an increase in vigilance and efficiency of the Norwegian civil security system.

This case study provides a comprehensive description of cooperation in the Barents Euro Arctic Region (BEAR). Regional cooperation in this area includes two inter-related organizations. The first is the Barents Euro-Arctic Regional Council (BEAC), which is as an intergovernmental forum that consists of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the Russian Federation. The second is the Barents Regional Council (BRC), which is an interregional forum that consists of 13 counties or provinces from northern Norway, Sweden and Finland and northwestern Russia. In the last 20 years this unique institutional framework has expanded to include cooperation not only on economic and social development, but also in the area of civil security. Building on and complementing existing cooperative endeavours in the field – such as cooperation in maritime and aeronautical search and rescue, existing bilateral agreements on emergency cooperation, and the 1986 Convention on Assistance in Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency – the members of the BEAC and the BRC institutionalized emergency management cooperation in 2008. This includes inter alia notification of emergencies, the establishment of a joint manual, simulation exercises, the exchange of personal, and training. While still young, this form of cooperation shows much promise in an increasingly important region of the world. This study describes civil security cooperation within the BEAR. In particular, it provides an overview of the regional organizations’ cultural, legal and institutional design and it describes the relationships between BEAR and its member states, citizens and stakeholder. The final section of this article also assesses the current state of play by analyzing the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of BEAR in relation to its civil security activities.

This study describes the current state of play and historical context of intergovernmental cooperation through the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and its engagement with civil security. It addresses the organizational, institutional, and cultural frameworks of the CBSS, as well as the international context within which it is embedded. This provides an important backdrop for describing the civil security system, which the CBSS has fostered for over 20 years. Beginning with the establishment of an expert group on nuclear and radiological safety in 1992, the CBSS now participates in a wide range of cooperative endeavours, such as information exchange on forest firefighting and environmental pollution. This study also assesses CBSS civil security along three indicators that highlight the extent to which the system is effective, efficient and legitimate. It is argued that the CBSS is a regional organization that finds its strength as a platform for facilitating and encouraging cooperation on civil security; however, its actual capacity as an actor in civil security area remains low.

During the past decades, the process of militarization that characterized Sweden after the Second World War has been replaced by a process of demilitarization. With the debates following the war in Georgia 2008 and the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, this process of demilitarization appears under challenge. This raises questions about the nature of these processes and the problems facing the attempts at turning them around. The article introduces a framework for analysing the influence of the military upon politics and society in the twenty-first-century European context with the aim of better understanding the various traits, their interconnections and relation to broader trends in Europe and the West. The analysis shows that traits of demilitarization are still dominating in Sweden, although some indications of remilitarization can be found.

Security studies have only recently begun to analyze the complexities of managing the so-called new wars. This paper focuses upon the challenge of establishing inter-institutional interaction among different types of actors; civilian and military, state and non-state, involved in security governance aimed at managing new wars. The United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 is chosen as anempirical focal point for the analysis. The relationships among the actors engaged in implementing the resolution are often highly asymmetric in character. How do they view inter-institutional interaction? Are there differences in the prospects for interaction with regard to the two dimensions of the resolution; protection and participation of women and girls? Drawing on new institutionalist theory a framework for analyzing how different types of actors view interaction with each other are presented.